Tomi Ungerer is perhaps the most famous children’s book author you have never heard of. Just over 50 years ago, Ungerer landed in New York City with only $60 in his pocket and a suitcase full of drawings. A brilliant illustrator, he became an overnight sensation. Ungerer went on to publish an astonishing 80 books in ten years, including beloved classics Moon Man, Otto, and The Three Robbers.

The Beguiling and Little Island Comics are honoured to host Tomi Ungerer for a special signing event at Little Island Comics on Saturday, September 8th, at 2pm in Little Island Comics’ event space. Ungerer will be signing copies of all of his work, including his work for adults, and a wide selection of books will be available for sale at the event.

The Three Robbers in particular remains one of our favourite children’s books carried at the store, and its darkly humourous message and brilliant and evocative illustrations have made it a classic for generations of parents and children since its original publication in 1962.

Tomi Ungerer is in Toronto as part of the promotional tour for the new film Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story, a documentary about his life and work screening as part of TIFF. While this film is definitely intended for an adult audience, Ungerer’s work has a broad appeal and this signing is intended for readers of all ages.

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ABOUT TOMI UNGERER
Tomi Ungerer (b.1931) was born in Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of France. He moved to New York City in 1956 and instantly found success as a caricaturist, illustrator, and children’s book author. As graphic artist he created advertising campaigns for Willy Brandt and The New York Times. In 1998 he was awarded the Hans Christian Anderson Award for Illustration, which is the Nobel Prize of the world of children’s literature. He now divides his time between Strasbourg and Ireland.

ABOUT FAR OUT ISN’T FAR ENOUGH: THE TOMI UNGERER STORY
“Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story” is a brilliant, original and highly engrossing feature-length documentary depicting the life and times of the best-selling children’s author and illustrator Tomi Ungerer. This French artist’s wild, lifelong adventure of testing societal boundaries through his use of subversive art and biting social satire is fully explored in this entertaining, 98-minute film which will have its North American premiere at TIFF 2012. While you may not be familiar with Ungerer or his work, you will quickly be entranced by the force of nature that is Tomi Ungerer.

The Beguiling and Little Island Comics are teaming up to throw a kick-butt ADVENTURE TIME event on Wednesday, July 25th, and you’re all invited! There will be signings by the creators of the ADVENTURE TIME comics, kids costume contests, and more! It’s gonna be mathematical… TO THE MATH!

SPECIAL GUESTS!

From New York City, it’s MEREDITH GRAN, writer and artist of the brand new mini-series ADVENTURE TIME: MARCELINE AND THE SCREAM QUEENS, as well as her own awesome series Octopus Pie! MARCELINE #1 ships to comic stores on Wednesday July 11th, and we’ll have copies of the issue available for sale that day and every day up to the event itself!

From here in Toronto, it’s RYAN NORTH, writer of the ongoing ADVENTURE TIME WITH FINN AND JAKE comic book series, as well as one of our favourite web comics, Dinosaur Comics! ADVENTURE TIME #6 comes out on Wednesday July 25th, and we’ll have that and the first 5 issues of Adventure Time available for sale at the event!

JUST ADDED: Everyone welcome the awesome Michael DeForge, who will join the festivities at 6pm! Michael is a Toronto-local who works on the Adventure Time cartoon, who will sign your comics including the awesome “Breakfast Princess” one he wrote a few months back! AWESOME!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

1PM-3PM: LITTLE ISLAND COMICS!
Just for kids (and their parents), Meredith and Ryan will be signing copies of Adventure Time for younger fans, at Little Island Comics, 742 Bathurst Street, just south of Bloor. The staff of Little Island will have Adventure Time-themed crafts and activities! Ryan and Meredith might even lead some of the activities! It’s going to be super fun!

There will be an Adventure Time Costume Contest for Kids, too, at 1PM sharp! Kids are encouraged to show up dressed in costume from Adventure Time, and prizes will be awarded to all participants! Yay!

6PM-6:45PM: The Central
How To Make Adventure Time Comics is the name of a short presentation that Meredith and Ryan will give on stage at The Central, 603 Markham Street, just next to The Beguiling. They’ll take questions from the audience! It’ll be fun!

7PM: Costume Contest for Grown-ups in front of The Beguiling!
Do you have a burning passion to be dressed up as FINN or JAKE or LUMPY SPACE PRINCESS almost solely for the bragging rights of winning a contest? Then show up dressed as one of the characters from Adventure Time at 7PM, and Celebrity Guest Judges Meredith, Ryan, and secret-judges-to-be-named will pick the winner! (IF IT IS RAINING THE COSTUME CONTEST FOR GROWN-UPS IS CANCELLED. No space to do it inside the store, sorry!).

7:15PM-9PM: THE BEGUILING!!!
Meredith Gran and Ryan North will be signing copies of ADVENTURE TIME comics from 7PM to 9PM at The Beguiling, 601 Markham Street! It’s gonna be sweet! If the weather is nice they will be signing under a tent in front of the store! If the weather is rainy they will be signing inside the store, but part of the line-up might STILL be outside depending on how many people show up, so bring an umbrella!

Matt Forsythe is the Doug Wright Award-winning, Eisner nominated author of Ojingogo, a wonderful wordless graphic novel from Drawn & Quarterly Books. Forsythe is also one of the founing editors of the incredibly popular art + inspiration website Drawn: The Illustration Weblog at Drawn.ca, and has done countless illustrations for magazines, websites, and other outlets across the world.

Now Matt is coming to Toronto to celebrate the releases of a trio of excellent new books for all ages and interests!

Little Island @ 3pm: Join Matt as he signs and sketches for young fans and their parents at Little Island Comics from 3pm-4:30pm, in support of his first children’s picture book My Name Is Elizabeth. A fun read for parents and grown-ups alike who’ve always hated getting stuck with a nick-name, My Name Is Elizabeth is a New York Times Notable picture book.

Little Island will have a variety of original paintings by Forsythe from My Name is Elizabeth on display during this event, a rare opportunity to see some of the beautiful originals he’s created, so don’t miss out!

The Central @ 6pm: Then in the evening, join us for the launch of Jinchalo, Matt Forsythe’s new full-length wordless graphic novel from Drawn & Quarterly, and for his brand new comic book about teaching comics, Comics Class, from Koyama Press! Forsythe will be on stage at The Central (just next door to The Beguiling), and he has put together a great presentation about his new project(s)! Forsythe will be interviewed on stage about creating comics, teaching kids, travelling and more! Plus a signing session will follow.

It’s gonna be a full, awesome day of great comics, graphic novels, and picture books for all ages. Come on out and enjoy!

Ryan North and Steve Wolfhard sign at Little Island Comics on Saturday February 11th, 2012 from 3pm-4:30pm

Free to attend!

On Wednesday February 8th BOOM Studios will release the first issue of the Adventure Time comic book series! It’s going to be written by Toronto’s own Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics)! And did you know that awesome Toronto comic book maker Steve Wolfhard works on the Adventure Time with Finn + Jake cartoon series? There’s a whole lot of Adventure Time going on in Toronto, and we’re going to throw a party to celebrate!

Kids and Adults alike are welcomed to Little Island Comics on Saturday, February 11th from 3pm to 4:30pm for our Adventure Time party! You can meet Ryan North and Steve Wolfhard, get your Adventure Time comic books signed, get original drawings, do fun Adventure Time activities and crafts, and so much more! MATHEMATICAL!

The Beguiling is pleased to announce the Grand Opening of North America’s first children’s comic shop—Little Island Comics! Offering the widest possible array of graphic novels, manga and comics for people 12 years old and younger, Little Island Comics had a successful soft open in early September. Little Island Comics’ inaugural events on the first weekend of October 2011 will mark the debut of its event space with visits from local comics creators and the launch of Claudia Dávila’s new book Luz Sees the Light.

Little Island’s Grand Opening festivities will be a celebration of children’s comics and of Toronto’s comics community. A stellar schedule of local creator visits will be augmented by informal activities for kids from open to close each day during the Grand Opening weekend. As well, select titles will be offered at door-crasher prices, making Little Island Comics’ Grand Opening weekend an ideal time to stock your comics library!

Little Island Comics is located on Bathurst Street just south of Bloor, a short block from its parent store and just a few doors away from the recently-moved Sonic Boom record shop, making their Mirvish Village neighbourhood a single stop for comics and culture for the whole family! Through a schedule of kids’ events and how-to comics workshops, Little Island will inspire a new generation of comics writers and artists!